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Mia Sato

Mia Sato

Features Writer, The Verge

Features Writer, The Verge

    More From Mia Sato

    Mia Sato
    Mia Sato
    Sports Illustrated publisher owes millions amid mass layoffs.

    According to an SEC filing, The Arena Group — which licenses and publishes Sports Illustrated — owes $45 million to ABG, the company that owns the storied outlet. The Arena Group also recently missed a $3.75 million quarterly payment to ABG.

    News broke earlier today that potentially all of the SI staff could be laid off after The Arena Group’s publishing license was revoked — and right now, it’s unclear if Sports Illustrated will exist at all going forward.

    The Arena Group SEC filing

    [investors.thearenagroup.net]

    Mia Sato
    Mia Sato
    Mass layoffs announced at Sports Illustrated.

    The union said the layoffs could affect “a significant number, possibly all” guild members at Sports Illustrated. According to the union, the outlet’s publisher, The Arena Group, has had its license revoked.

    In November, affiliate marketing content credited to fake, AI-generated authors began appearing on Sports Illustrated. The Arena Group maintained, however, that the content itself was written by humans. Spokesperson Rachael Fink wrote in an email to The Verge:

    “We are in active discussions with [the license holders] but we understand we aren’t the only ones. Even though the publishing license has been revoked we will continue to produce Sports Illustrated until this is resolved.

    We hope to be the company to take SI forward but if not, we are confident that someone will. If it is another business, we will support the transition so the legacy of Sports Illustrated doesn’t suffer.”

    Mia Sato
    Mia Sato
    Wayfair is laying off 1,650 people.

    The cuts, which amount to 13 percent of the company, were announced today. Wayfair previously laid off 1,750 people almost exactly a year ago.

    The layoffs today follow an internal memo sent by CEO Niraj Shah last month, in which he lectured employees about working hard and told them to have less of a work-life balance:

    “Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from,” he wrote. “There is not a lot of history of laziness being rewarded with success.”

    Wayfair Boss, Weeks After Viral Memo, Cuts 13% of Staff

    [WSJ]

    Mia Sato
    Mia Sato
    CNET’s parent company is reportedly looking to sell.

    Under ownership of private equity-backed marketing firm Red Ventures, CNET secretly published AI-generated articles, pushed journalists to be more favorable to advertisers, and laid off dozens of staffers. Workers unionized in May, citing the company’s use of AI and a need for editorial independence.

    Now Axios is reporting that Red Ventures is looking for a buyer. Red Ventures acquired CNET in 2020 and owns a slew of other websites including Bankrate, Healthline, and The Points Guy.

    Scoop: Red Ventures explores sale of CNET

    [Axios]

    Mia Sato
    Mia Sato
    That crypto firm’s fake CEO is actually just some British man.

    Earlier this month The Guardian reported that the CEO of a crypto firm called HyperVerse didn’t seem to be a real person: “Steven Reece Lewis” had an impressive resume, but there was no evidence he existed.

    Now The Guardian has tracked down Steven Harrison, “an Englishman living in Thailand,” who was paid to appear in HyperVerse’s investor materials. He says he didn’t realize he was being used in a scam:

    “I went away and I actually looked at the company because I was concerned that it could be a scam,” Harrison said. “So I looked online a bit and everything seemed OK, so I rolled with it.”

    ‘I do feel bad about this’: Englishman who posed as HyperVerse CEO says sorry to investors who lost millions

    [The Guardian]

    Mia Sato
    Mia Sato
    Come get your Verizon settlement money.

    Verizon customers who were charged an “administrative charge” in recent years might be entitled to a piece of a $100 million class action settlement. A lawsuit alleged that the company added a bogus fee to customers’ bills to squeeze money out of them.

    The charge must have occurred between 2016 and last year. The deadline to submit a claim is April 15. Here’s the claim form.

    Some Verizon customers can claim part of $100 million settlement. Here's how.

    [CBS News]

    Meta will hide suicide and eating disorder content from teens as government pressure mountsMeta will hide suicide and eating disorder content from teens as government pressure mounts
    YouTube is cracking down on AI-generated true crime deepfakesYouTube is cracking down on AI-generated true crime deepfakes
    The Perfect WebpageThe Perfect Webpage
    Mia Sato
    Mia Sato
    Mia Sato
    Predators are using Twitch’s short form feature to circulate abusive material.

    Child safety on Twitch continues to be a problem. Bloomberg reports that Twitch’s “clips” feature is being used to share child sexual abuse material that’s being viewed by users.

    While Twitch has handed down stricter rules around sexual content in recent weeks, it seems that the company is more hands-off with clips moderation:

    At the moment, Twitch focuses most of its monitoring efforts on its livestreams, which the company says are reviewed using human moderators, artificial intelligence and other tools. By contrast, when it comes to moderating clips, Twitch relies solely on its users to report instances of suspicious or upsetting material.

    Twitch "Clips" Feature Being Used to Exploit Minors

    [Bloomberg]

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